


Life Imitates Art

by LunaStories



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Artist Steve Rogers, Crack Treated Seriously, Fanart, Fanfiction, Fluff, Getting Together, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Identity Porn, Light Angst, M/M, Meta, Mutual Pining, Oblivious Tony Stark, Pining, Steve Rogers Feels, Steve draws fanart, Stony - Freeform, Stony Fandom - Freeform, steve discovers stony
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-26
Updated: 2019-11-26
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:40:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21567022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LunaStories/pseuds/LunaStories
Summary: Steve ends up getting more than he bargained for when he starts uploading his art online. He's not sure what 'Stony' is but he's about to find out.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Comments: 19
Kudos: 396





	Life Imitates Art

**Author's Note:**

> First of all I'd like to thank the amazing Stony server for humoring me when I barged in and asked for writer and artist tributes x'D I figured, hey this is a super meta idea, might as well include the fandom where I can! All links to their profiles will be at the end for ease of access :) Honestly I don't even know how I got into the Stony fandom. As I told my beta, one moment I was living a normal life and next thing I know I'm crying over two guys and I'm not even dating either of them so RIP
> 
> A million thanks to my beta [BuckyAboveEverything](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BuckyAboveEverything/pseuds/BuckyAboveEverything) who I basically threw three fics at and begged them for help. They are a godsend and such a good sport <3
> 
> And omg seriously a big special thank you to Dragon, one of the best people I know, who borrowed the brain cell today and came up with the fic title. Seriously, my options were gonna be 'Steve Draws Fanart' or 'Draw me Like one of Your French Girls' so please appreciate her genius title xD

Steve had always been rather adaptable. His sudden introduction into the 21st century was definitely not ideal, but it was better than being a frozen Capsicle (Tony’s words, not his). There was, however, one thing that Steve certainly loved about the future, and that was accessibility. 

You see, back in his day (and yes, he knew that if he said that out loud Tony would never let him live it down. It’s why he only said it in his head or in the privacy of his room with God and JARVIS as his only witnesses), everything was handwritten or manually drawn. Sure, mass production had been on the rise, but it certainly wasn’t wasted on frivolous things such as art. 

For a while, Steve was content doing what he’d always done, and that was sketching the people he loved. To immortalize them through art and shade their features with steady, reliable charcoal. 

It wasn’t always like that though. When he first started living in the Avengers tower, the sketchbooks Tony had bought for him went untouched. He couldn’t bring himself to draw those he had lost, because then it truly was like looking at memories through a hazy film, their features fading with each day he was awake in this new world. 

But that’s what art was for, wasn’t it? To say what can’t or couldn’t be put into words. To speak to those in the past, present, and future, and hope that somehow they would understand what he wanted to convey. It only took him a week to grab a sketchbook, unused to the quality of the pages and the crisp edges, and put pencil to paper. He’d never been one for hesitation, preferring to face his fears head on, and this was no different. 

If he was afraid, then he could trace it on paper. If he grieved, then he could shade it in colors. 

The days after that were a blur. Steve spent most of it curled up on any surface closest to open windows and warm sunlight, sketching until it hurt. Sketching until there were tears in his eyes from more than stiff muscles. After that, he stared at familiar teasing eyes, a tilted soldier’s hat on a neat head of hair, and grieved. He traced perfectly coiffed curls and sharp eyes, a grim smile lined with blood red as a gun was held in her steady hands, and breathed without choking pain for the first time since he’d come out of the ice. 

It was good to remember, because then, they would never die. Not as long as they lived on in his memories. 

There were other drawings too, of barracks and open fields lined with silver fences. Of soldiers, his squadron, running and training. 

Drawing them made them seem more real, enough that he felt like he could let them go. They’d lived their lives, and even though it hurt that he hadn’t been there by their sides, he knew he had to live his own life as well. 

Their stories were over, and their epilogues had been written, but his chapter was just beginning. 

His first attempt at integrating into the new century involved looking through things on the internet. It amazed him that all this information was readily available, and he was eager to take advantage of it. He wanted to find a site where he could connect with other artists, maybe even make some friends. He waded through some rather suspicious sites, including a ‘Tumblr’ and what seemed to be a ’Twitter’ for birds. He made an account on those regardless, just in case. 

Once he figured out how tags worked, though most of the ones on Tumblr seemed to be useless, he was able to follow some blogs. Many of them were scenic art blogs, some were character studies of various cartoons that seemed to be popular. 

Steve went through as much as he could before he called it a day and went down to the workshop. JARVIS took him to the lab, and Steve smiled when he saw Tony using a welding torch, a mask on his face protecting him from the sparks. He raised a hand to knock on the glass but paused when the door slid open automatically. 

“JARVIS?” Steve asked, his voice raised so he could be heard over the hissing and buzzing noises. 

“Sir has authorized you access to the workshop when he is there to supervise,” There was a pause before JARVIS continued, a hint of humor in his words. “As long as you don’t force him to leave or make him sign papers, you can come and go as you please.” 

“Oh,” Steve breathed out, clutching his sketchbook a little closer to his chest as he felt something warm take hold in his heart. That was…well it was certainly a gesture of trust. He’d had a rocky start with Tony, and that was why he had wanted to make sure things were still good, that he hadn’t messed it up with his stubbornness. They were similar in a lot of ways, and their mutual inability to compromise led to arguments more often than not, but he truly did like Tony. 

He’d come down a few times before, but Tony had always needed to give express permission for the doors to open. Having access to what was essentially Tony’s heart and home, the very core of him, was humbling. 

Tony seemed to spot him and turned off the torch. He tugged the mask until it rested on top of his mop of hair, his chest heaving and covered only by a thin tank top. Steve’s fingers twitched, an overwhelming urge to draw taking over him. 

“Hey Capsicle,” Tony sighed as he lifted the edge of his top, just enough to wipe his face and flash Steve a tantalizing glimpse of bronzed, hardened muscles. “Need something?” 

“No,” Steve managed to choke out, the silence before his answer stretching out just long enough for it to be noticed. He darted his eyes up to meet Tony’s amused face. He cleared his throat, hoping and praying he wasn’t blushing. “Just wanted to see if you wanted some company.” 

Steve lifted up his sketchbook and his pack of coloring pencil with a hesitant smile. “Can I sketch here?” 

Tony raised a brow, a brief contemplative look crossing his face before it smoothed out and he grinned, easy and friendly. “Of course, have at it. Just make sure you get all my good angles.” 

Steve rolled his eyes, even though his heart skipped a beat at Tony’s correct deduction of his motive. “I didn’t say I was going to draw you.” 

“Well what else would you draw? I’m obviously the sexiest thing here so get to it, Cap,” Tony gestured to the couch before slapping his mask back down and firing up the torch.

Steve knew Tony was only joking, but he still spent the evening trying to perfect the dip of Tony’s back, and the way his hair stuck up at odd angles. By the end of it, he had a rather stunning image of Tony bent over the table, muscles highlighted by scattering sparks. Steve stared at it for a long minute, trying to ignore the clear affection that shone through every stroke of his pencil. 

He glanced up at Tony, now more subdued and working with thin wires, and wondered if his appreciation for Tony would become a problem. Shaking his head, he packed up and left with a quick ‘goodnight’. 

It was fine, nobody had to know and it would be a secret between him and his art. 

xxxxxx

Turns out, he wasn’t the only one that enjoyed drawing the Avengers. He found his first fan account on the ‘Instagram’. JARVIS had said it was for photos, but an account called monii.anoo seemed to use it to post stylized art of the Avengers. 

He created an account after some deliberation and left a nice comment. It had been difficult to decide on a username, but one of the first lessons Tony had given him was not to use his real name online. The thought of Tony had inspired his username. 

_CaptainPopsicle: Very nice colors! I love the way you draw Tony._

Steve didn’t expect an answer but minutes later, there was a ‘ping’ sound. 

_monii.anoo: Thanks!_

He stared at the reply for a few seconds, a smile on his face as he succeeded in his first interaction with a stranger not as Captain America, but as Steve Rogers. He scrolled through their account and his eyes widened when he noticed what seemed to be physical art on their account. The image on his phone was crisp, as if he was there looking at their paper in person. 

“JARVIS.” 

“Yes, Captain?” 

“How do they…” Steve struggled with words for a moment, trying to remember the terminology. “Is it possible to ‘upload’ physical art onto the internet?” 

“Yes, if you would like I can scan your art pieces. They can be uploaded with near accurate colors.” 

“Thank you, JARVIS, I think I’ll hold off on that for now,” Steve muttered, lost in thought as he glanced at the sketchbook he had open next to him and then to his phone screen. The image looked so real, it was astonishing how physical art could be transformed into a digital format in such a way. 

Maybe there was some credit to this social media thing. It was certainly a way to share art with a wider audience and interact with people at the same time. That thought stuck with him as he went down to the workshop that night, a daily habit that Tony seemed to encourage. Though Tony tried, Steve still wouldn’t let Tony see his art. It was too personal, and more than a little embarrassing that even though he did draw the other Avengers, a majority of his sketchbook was filled with Tony. 

The man was just so dynamic and alive. The way he interacted with his bots, his brilliance as he waved a hand and like magic, bright blue screens would surround him. He was like a performer on stage and Steve was constantly overwhelmed by how amazing he was. 

Steve wanted to keep it all to himself, this side of Tony that other people rarely got to see. He paused, fingers stilling where he’d been perfecting Tony’s goatee. Steve tilted his head, studying his own art in a way he hadn’t in a long time. He wanted to keep Tony to himself, but at the same time, he wanted others to see that Tony was more than just Iron Man.

He traced the lines on Tony’s face with a soft finger, smudging the charcoal and adding shadows to his already distinct features. 

Sharing Tony to make him more real, more than just a hero. That was certainly a thought. 

xxxxxx

That night he uploaded his first art onto Twitter, Tumblr, and any other social media he could figure out. It was a piece with all the Avengers, during one of their movie nights. They were sprawled out on every available surface, Natasha looking exasperated as Thor yelled at the screen, Clint drooling onto her shoulder, Bruce with both hands raised nervously in an attempt to placate the thunder god, and Tony with his head thrown back, eyes tightly shut as he laughed. 

Steve didn’t draw himself into the art piece, because he knew that if he did, his feelings would be written all over his face. He’d watched Tony more than the actual movie, burning the sight of him happy and comfortable, illuminated by the flashing scenes of the movie, into his mind.

Tony had met his gaze, just once, enough for those dark eyes to squint at him with an indecipherable expression before looking away. 

_AvengersNewB: Wow this is gorgeous! I love how domestic they are. :)_

Steve smiled, and decided he wouldn’t mind uploading more pieces of his life, if it meant others would appreciate it just as much as he was. He wanted others to see the Avengers as more than protectors, but as people. 

xxxxxx

“Something on your mind?” 

Steve looked up to find Tony staring at him with a curious glint in his eyes. “No, just…” He wasn’t sure what to say. His mind had been distracted, thoughts on which art piece he should upload next. It had been a few weeks now, and he’d met many fellow artists that enjoyed drawing the Avengers just as much as he did. There were some that seemed to focus on one Avenger more than most, or even pairs of them. Some of the images were fairly intimate, but nothing he’d seen so far showed him anything other than perhaps close friendships. 

Steve glanced up at Tony, wondering what he would think of the art piece he’d seen of them hugging. 

“Did you know people draw us?” 

The words were blurted out without his permission, and he watched with interest as Tony’s face went through several emotions: shock, concern, and then seemed to settle on amusement. 

“I see you found the fanart.” 

Steve stared at him blankly. “The what?” 

“Fanart,” Tony waved a hand and a screen pulled up in front of them. He shoved at Steve until he reluctantly moved over and they were both snug on the couch. “See, people are fascinated by us and they tend to draw us to kind of…let out their feelings I guess.” 

Steve watched in awe as art after art flew up on the screen. There were some really talented people out there. “Wow, so you knew about this?” 

Tony shrugged. “Sure, I mean it’s harmless fun. Ohhh check this one out they’re fairly new but I like their stuff.” 

Steve opened his mouth but he didn’t know what he would have said because in the next moment his mouth snapped shut with a harsh click of teeth. On the screen, blown up wide was…his art. 

And not just any art, it was the one he’d drawn of Tony sleeping on the very couch they were sitting on. Tony had an arm slung over his eyes, mouth half open and tempting. The glow of his arc reactor gave the scene a nice glow, a soft blanket of blue. 

“Amazing right?” Tony continued on, oblivious to Steve’s internal panic. 

“They even got my moles right,” Tony pointed to the small scattering of moles on the underside of his arm, ones that Steve had studied extensively and had a weak spot for. “If I didn’t know better I would think they knew me or something.”

“Uhm,” Steve swallowed hard. “I didn’t know you kept track of stuff like this.” 

“Oh I more than just keep track of it,” Tony smiled at Steve and Steve let out a sigh of relief when Tony swiped his fingers and his art was hidden away again. He let out a muffled cough when another one of his art pieces flashed onto the screen. “I revel in this shit. I mean look how talented our fans are. ‘CaptainPopsicle’,” Tony sounded the name out loud, a smirk growing on his face as he glanced at Steve. “I see this one is a Captain America fan.” 

As Tony spoke Steve continued disappearing into his seat, shoulders up and defensive, ears burning red. 

“What is it?” 

“Nothing!” Steve yelled out, just a little too loudly if the look Tony shot him was any indication. “But maybe we can look at someone else’s art? How about franzwcoffee?” Steve offered up the name rather desperately. Franz was someone Steve had interacted with several times in his comments section. They seemed to be a fan artist too, but not one he’d had the opportunity to see the art of. He’d planned on doing it soon. 

Tony’s eyebrows shot up into his hairline. “You know about Stony?” 

“What?” Steve’s voice was barely a whisper, wondering if he’d made another mistake. 

Without another word, Tony typed in the username, and oh god-

“Are those _tentacles_? Holy fu- they’re in you-“ Steve was making seal noises at this point, his entire face bright red and eyes wide as Tony scrambled to get the fanart off the screen. 

“Oh shit, I was gonna introduce you gently that was absolutely not the one I wanted to show-“ 

“WHAT IS THAT WHY ARE YOU SO TINY-“ 

“Ah fuck.” 

xxxxxx

One near meltdown and some hard whiskey later, Steve was still no closer to any answers. 

“So Stony is you and me.” 

Tony for his part seemed a bit sheepish about throwing Steve into the deep end. Honestly, it was a miracle Steve had not encountered any of the more risqué fanarts, but apparently JARVIS had been screening his online searches ‘for his sanity’. There were no such restrictions in Tony’s lab which led to their current predicament. 

“Sort of,” Tony sipped at his whiskey, eyeing Steve carefully. “It’s kind of in a more romantic context. We’re a pretty big ship.” 

“We’re people,” Steve replied, confused. 

“No, like-,” Tony let out a huff of laughter. “A ‘ship’ is what they call a pair they wish to be together romantically. So you and I are ‘shipped’ together.” 

“Oh,” Steve went silent at that, trying to wrap his mind around this. Was his crush on Tony so obvious that even random strangers were ‘shipping’ them together? 

“Hey,” Tony’s voice was soft, a thread of worry in it. “Don’t worry, this doesn’t change anything.”

Steve cleared his throat and straightened his posture, trying to look unaffected. “I know.” 

“They might ship us, but they’re probably just seeing things that aren’t there,” The twist of Tony’s mouth seemed sad, bitter somehow. His fingers were tight on the glass. Steve didn’t like it. 

“Right…” 

There was an awkward silence then, despite the reassurance from both of them that this wouldn’t change things. 

Finally, it was Tony that broke the weird mood and stood up. He turned to Steve, staring at him for a long moment before smirking. “So, I’ll ask JARVIS to remove the safety search on your phone. You should check out some fics, the tentacle one Franz made also has a story that goes with it. Look up the name FestiveFerret and you should find it.” 

“Fics?” Steve asked, standing up and grabbing his things as he went. He was a little afraid to ask as every new terminology seemed to be attached to some truly mind boggling feats of pornography, but he wasn’t about to let a little bare skin and slimy tentacles scare him. 

“Oh yeah, fanfictions are the best. Seriously, ever wanted to read a story about yourself and the rest of the Avengers fighting robots? Fics are your best bet.” 

“I’ll take your word for it then,” Steve’s reply was dry as he fought down a smile, trying to seem stern. “After all, everything you’ve introduced me to has been really eye-opening.” 

Tony laughed, an unrepentant grin on his face. “Go do some research, soldier, and have fun with it.” 

With a mock salute at Tony, Steve left the room. He had some researching to do, and some questions to ask his online friends. 

xxxxxx

_Misbehavingvigilante: So basically, A/B/O is a world where there are alphas, betas and omegas…_

Steve took notes diligently as he asked his questions and delved deeper into the ‘fandom’, as he’d learned it was called. So far, he was firmly considered part of the Avengers fandom, and apparently the Tony one as well? He did draw Tony an awful lot. 

It seemed a majority of his new friends were in the Stony fandom. One of his frequent commenters, AvengersNewB actually wrote Stony fanfiction. He’d decided to read a few of them, and others his friends had recommended to him, and well…he could see why Tony liked them. They were fantastical fun adventures, ones that had all the risks but none of the consequences. There were happy endings and soft moments that Steve ached for. 

The Tony in these fics almost always had a crush on Steve, remnants of his childhood idolization of Captain America. Those ones always left him feeling a little hollow because he could see it happening, but he would never be sure if Tony liked him for him, or because he was Captain America. It was a distinction that even he had trouble seeing some days. 

It was painful. He didn’t expect something clearly created out of love, these fics and fanart, to give him so many emotions. Steve rubbed at his chest, a frown on his face as his eyes flicked over to his open sketchbook. He’d never really drawn himself, preferring to study others. 

But he wondered if maybe it would hurt less if he let himself dream. If he let himself feel. 

Steve reached for a piece of charcoal and flipped to a new page. 

xxxxxx

“Remember that fanartist I told you about?” 

Steve paused where he was coloring in his blue eyes. This one was a medieval au, and Steve was the dashing prince on a horse. Tony was the stable boy, and he was looking up at Steve with a flirtatious smile, a hand resting on Steve’s thigh as he leaned against the horse. 

“Which one?” Steve asked, cautiously. 

“CaptainPopsicle.” 

“Oh,” Steve breathed out a sigh of relief before tensing up, once he registered what that meant. “ _Oh_ , um. I didn’t know you were staying up to date on their recent stuff.” 

“I wasn’t going to, but they recently added some fairly interesting art to their account.” 

Tony was working in front of him, and since all Steve could see was his back, he couldn’t gauge how Tony felt. 

“What kind of art?” Steve clutched at his paper a little tighter, holding his breath as he waited for Tony’s answer. 

“Hmm,” Tony let out a hum, thoughtful and careful as he wiped his hands free of engine oil and turned around, enough so that he could lean against the table behind him and fix an inscrutable look on Steve. “It just gave me some ideas, that’s all.” 

Steve traced his eyes over the stretch of Tony’s worn sweatpants over thick thighs, the way his shirt stuck to him and the sweat trickling down his face. When his eyes settled on Tony’s lips, he swallowed hard. A pink tongue darted out to lick his lips, and Steve felt lost all over again, always consumed by how much he wanted Tony. 

“Ideas,” Steve repeated, voice whisper soft. Tony’s pose was deliberate, his outfit too. Steve remembered now how he’d drawn Tony like this, in one of his earlier ones. Tony leaning against a table like he was now, with a come hither look. If Steve looked up, he would see- 

Tony’s eyes were half-lidded, exactly like his art, but the insecurity was entirely new. Maybe that was what broke Steve out of the daze he’d been in, the fact that this was _real_. 

Not a piece of fanfiction or fanart, not one of his daydreams or one of his art pieces. 

Steve took in a deep breath and ran a hand down his face, trying to collect himself. “You knew?” 

“Not when we discussed it. But well,” Tony waved a hand and on the screen was Steve’s most recent work. It was of the two of them, a domestic scene. Tony’s wild bedhead barely softened the scowl and bleary squint he wore as he wrapped his hands around a mug of coffee. He was in the middle of taking it from Steve and his fingers overlapped Steve’s in that moment. Steve’s face was…well to put it simply, he looked like a man in love. 

It had been a risk to upload this, Steve knew that, but he truly didn’t think Tony would see it. He’d gotten careless, and his feelings were splashed all over his art in full color.

“You see this?” Tony enlarged the fanart until it was on the mug. “Yeah, I don’t believe in coincidences and the chance of someone knowing that’s the cup I use and even get the chip on the handle right is zero to none. So either we have some serious security breaches or…” Tony trailed off and bit his bottom lip, this time his eyes were a bit softer, almost hopeful. “CaptainPopsicle is _my_ Capsicle.”

Steve stood, barely paying attention to the bots beeping and weaving around his feet. He moved towards Tony as if drawn by a beacon. Tony waved a hand and the screen disappeared, the air between them clear again. 

His hands were steady when he settled them on Tony’s hips, but his tight grip gave away his nerves. 

“Yours?” Steve whispered, mouth just a breath away from Tony’s. 

“If you want,” Tony replied just as soft, his hands coming up to rest against Steve’s chest. “I would be yours too. Sounds like a fair deal, yeah?” 

“Captain America and Iron Man?” Steve couldn’t help but ask, a hitch in his voice as he pressed closer, trying to ask what he didn’t know how to put into words. 

“Steve Rogers and Tony Stark,” Tony’s voice was firm, pulling away just enough to meet Steve’s look. “Just two unfairly attractive guys who like each other.” 

“Unfairly attractive, huh?” Steve chuckled, almost drowning in the happiness he felt. He pressed a kiss against Tony’s mouth then, cutting off whatever joking remark Tony was likely to say. He was grateful that Tony knew what he was really asking, and had met him halfway. 

“You know, if this were a high school au I’d be sliding you a paper asking ‘Do you like me? check yes or no.’” Tony murmured against his lips and he couldn’t help breaking the kiss, a laugh bursting out of him.

“Tony,” Steve tried to glare. “How about we keep this an adult au and make this rating explicit?” 

“I see you’ve been on AO3,” Tony grinned, eyes flashing with mischief. “Have fun telling your fandom friends that Stony is canon.” 

“What’s canon?” 

Steve never did get his answer because in the next moment, Tony surged up to press another kiss against his lips, and they were lost to the moment. But that was okay, because there would be many more and this was their happy ending. 

Steve smiled into the next kiss. Maybe those fics were onto something after all. 

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Stony fic, still getting the hang of it. I hope ya'll enjoyed this silly fic! I have 2 more that I've completed that are also relatively short and I will upload by the end of this week. I kind of wrote all three fics in three days on some weird Stony binge, but I hope they're enjoyable regardless. I joined the server...3 days ago and then did these fics in that same length of time lmao. Stony takes no prisoners.
> 
> The two NSFW art pieces that Tony showed Steve are [a tentacle one](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17846330/chapters/43657634) and [this micro/macro fanart](https://twitter.com/franzwcoffee/status/1149566594596524034). Full blame goes to the ever so evil Franz who requested I traumatize Steve with the tentacles and I went a step further with the micro ;) Thanks, love <3
> 
> Many thanks to the writers who volunteered and gave me permission to reference them in the fic: [AvengersNewB](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AvengersNewB), [misbehavingvigilante](https://archiveofourown.org/users/misbehavingvigilante/pseuds/misbehavingvigilante) and [FestiveFerret](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FestiveFerret/pseuds/FestiveFerret)
> 
> And of course, we can't forget the artists who offered up their goods (and basically lead Steve down this dark path): [franzwcoffee](https://twitter.com/franzwcoffee) and [monii.anoo](https://downeyhills.tumblr.com/post/189223752712/for-my-first-bb-this-was-for-meeyas-fic)
> 
> This fic would not have been possible without all of you and your interactions are what made this so fun! Thank you again!! 
> 
> Finally, if you enjoyed this fic please do let me know. I am very new and still learning so it would be nice to see what you guys think (I'm only just starting to interact with the avengers side of the fandom xD). I hope we can get to know each other! 
> 
> Thank you for reading <3 You can find my tumblr [here](http://lunastories.tumblr.com/). Feel free to drop by and say hi!


End file.
